4 The polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctic are the coldest most remote places on Earth They are dangerous isolated and incredibly difficult environments for humans to live in In spite of this some researchers brave the elements and work at the Poles From North to South The Arctic is a huge frozen ocean The North Pole is here In summer the edges of the ocean melt but in winter the whole area is completely frozen Antarctica is Earth’s fifth-largest continent covering 5 4 million square miles 14 million km2 It has the coldest windiest climate on Earth The land is covered with an ice sheet more than 2 miles 3 km thick In winter the surface of the ocean around the land freezes over The South Pole is Antarctica WORKING IN AN ICE WORLD Polar bears are the largest and strongest land carnivores in the world The icy Poles are beautiful but they are tough and terrifying places to live in
5 Visiting Scientists Scientists from all over the world visit the Arctic and Antarctic to study the polar lands They examine wildlife and how animals survive life in this natural freezer and look at how climate change is affecting these regions This book looks at how scientists do their research who pays for it what researchers do with their results and some of the discoveries they have made DANGER Arctic researchers have to be on the lookout for polar bears Polar bears do not normally attack humans but a starving bear would catch and kill prey as big as a person in order to feed itself and its hungry cubs A polar bear can outrun a human and kill a person with one swipe of its powerful paws and massive claws Working with strangers in a barren harsh environment far from family and home is challenging but scientists come here because the Arctic and Antarctic are perfect places for them to carry out their research
6 Many researchers at the Poles study its wildlife They examine the ways in which human activities and climate change affect different creatures Penguins in Peril Scientists investigate penguin populations to find out how fishing and climate change affect the birds One of the ways they do this is by implanting tags in the birds The tags send coded signals to a computer each time a penguin walks past a gateway built between its colony and the sea The signals tell scientists the tag number and the time and direction of travel This data is then used to work out how often each penguin goes hunting and how long it spends finding food When penguins spend longer times hunting scientists know there is less food available CREATURES OF THE ICE Numbers of Emperor penguins have declined by up to half in some places Scientists are researching the reasons for this Fishing is a problem for gentoo penguins such as these The birds get caught in nets and the small fish they feed on are caught by fishing boats
7 Tracking Polar Bears Researchers have different ways of studying polar bears They may watch the bears using binoculars look for evidence of their presence such as partially eaten seals or follow bear footprints in the snow usually overhead in aircraft Scientists may also stun polar bears and then fit them with radio tracking collars These send signals by satellite to a receiving station There researchers use a computer program to plot the polar bears paths By tracking their movements scientists learn things such as how the bears follow the ice as it melts in summer which they rely on for hunting seals CUTTING EDGE The radio tracking collars fitted to polar bears are made from the same material used in the conveyor belts in frozen-food factories This special plastic sheds water and ice and stays flexible in cold temperatures The material is so strong that the bears cannot easily tear off the collars Only female polar bears are fitted with radio collars Male polar bears have necks wider than their heads so the collars would fall off
